Restaurant-Good Fajitas!

I've been thinking of posting this on here for awhile, but whenever I make this recipe I get so excited I forget about all else- including taking photos of the process! But this time I made sure to document it all so I could share it with you, dear readers.

I LOOOOVE fajitas, especially the kind you get at Mexican restaurants where they serve it to you on a cast iron skillet with fresh tortillas. YUM. Unfortunately, every time I got a "fajita" spice mix or frozen "fajitas" meal from the store, they never even remotely resembled the restaurant fajitas I love. 

After some searching I came across a fajita marinade recipe from Allrecipes.com that hit the nail on the head! 

Restaurant-Good Fajitas

1/4 cup lime juice

1/3 cup water

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I use red pepper flakes instead)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Step 1. Mix together ingredients for marinade; cut your chicken (I usually use 2 large breasts) into thin strips and marinate for 30 minutes-2 hours. 

Step 2. Scoop chicken out of marinade and cook in large skillet on HIGH heat until outsides turn white. Don't cook for too long or chicken will become tough. Remove chicken and set aside, keeping it warm.

Step 3. You'll need onions and multicolored peppers- I just keep it simple and use 2 packages of frozen. Less chopping that way! But fresh works too.

Step 4. Using the same pan you cooked the chicken in, cook your onions and peppers (this gives them some of that fajita flavor too). Personally, I think that to make this dish more authentic you kind of have to cook them to oblivion- in the photo above, there's lots of liquid still...

 ...but in this photo you'll see how the liquid has evaporated and the onions have kind of caramelized- this gives the dish that amazing tangy sweetness. You have to wait until you actually have to kind of scrape the onions & peppers off the pan. Ohhhh so good.

Step 5. Add your chicken back into the mix- stir well and you'll see the chicken kind of get this golden coating from the veggies. YUM.

Step 6. What do you want with your yummy fajita mix? I personally love to eat mine over a bed of Chipotle rice- yeah, the same kind you get at Chipotle restaurant! You can find the recipe here or do like I do- just use basmati rice, use a little less than twice as much water as rice except replace some of the water (a few tablespoons) with lime juice and then add extra salt. Once the rice is done cooking, mix in a few tablespoons of fresh chopped cilantro. 

Another great option is to serve this on freshly-made warm tortillas. Yes, you can make these at home! I pinned it and I did it! Find the recipe here.

Step 7. Devour. And think about opening your own Mexican restaurant with your mad fajita-cooking skills.

The Last Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake Recipe You'll Ever Need

Today I have a real treat for you! There have been a lot of "microwave mug cake" recipes floating around on the internet, and I have tried quite a few. Often, they get tricky because of the amount of egg required- the results either turn out too dense or too spongy. 

Lightbulb moment!

My very favorite chocolate cake recipe is vegan- it has no egg in it at all (it utilizes the leavening magic of baking soda and vinegar instead). I thought, Why not scale down that recipe and turn it into a microwave mug cake recipe?

Well, I scaled it down, messed with it a bit, and discovered the perfect recipe for a moist, light, fluffy cake recipe that just hits the chocolate spot. Here ya go:

The Last Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake Recipe You'll Ever Need

4 1/2 T flour

3 T sugar

2 tsp unsweetened cocoa

scant* 1/4 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 pinches salt

3 tsp vegetable oil

scant 1/4 tsp vanilla

scant 1/2 tsp vinegar

3 T cold water

*"scant" means just a little bit less- because this recipe has been adapted from a much larger quantity, some of the measurements were weird fractions, so just doing a tad less than a full 1/4 tsp, for example, will give you just the right amount.

1. Mix the dry ingredients (1st 5) in your mug with a fork or mini whisk.

2. Make a well (hole) in the center of your dry mixture and add wet ingredients.

3. Stir well with your fork or mini whisk. You may want to use a spoon to make sure you get all the dry ingredients out of the bottom corners. 

4. Lick the spoon/fork/whisk. No raw eggs. You're totally allowed.

5. Microwave for 1 minute, 20 seconds. I have a 1000-watt microwave- if your microwave is more or less powerful you may need to adjust this time. Start low and work your way up.

6. Let cool for as long as you can stand it (about 10 minutes is good- I usually dig in early and blow on each bite.)

7. Devour the chocolatey deliciousness. 

Aww yeah. Next time you're craving some moist chocolatey goodness, I've got you covered. You're welcome.

I would love it if you tried this out yourself and left a comment to tell me how you liked it. :-)

Linking up to:

Milk & Cuddles

Getting Ready for Baby!

Isn't this photo my photographer friend Jenn took amazing? I just love all my little munchkins' hands on my belly! We had an incredible maternity photo shoot- check out her website or her blog to see more of her gorgeous photos.

We're two weeks away from my due date, and I am up to my ears in burp cloths and baby blankets! The bouncy seat, swing, and car seat have all been extracted from the attic, their covers laundered and replaced, and now I'm working on the layette. It's a lot of work!

One thing I realized this morning as Little Boo (2 1/2 now) bounded into our room was that I could go into labor and have to leave for the hospital in the middle of the night. If I did, it might be a bit disconcerting for her to come into Mom & Dad's room and find us missing! Even more disconcerting if she went to look for us downstairs and found a strange person (well, it would be someone she knew but still strange) sleeping on the couch in the living room...

So I came up with this idea:

I made this little sign and showed it to her, explaining that if she wakes up and comes to our bedroom door and she sees this sign, it will mean that Mommy and Daddy went to the hospital so Mommy could have the baby. It would also mean that Uncle Erik, or Miss Shari (or some other friend or family member) will probably be downstairs. 

She got very excited about this sign and when she said our family prayer tonight she prayed that Daddy would take me to the hospital and that Uncle Erik would be here. :-) Maybe I gave her the wrong message...

Another gorgeous shot from our photo shoot. LOVE!

Oh, well! At least she has some idea of what's going on. I'll keep reminding her of how the sign will work until the time comes. In the meantime, I'll be hanging in there, staying in the AC and nesting my little heart out...

As Promised: Summer Goals, Discipline, and Allowances!

image from johnstonefitness.com

Let's start with goals: I'm a big fan of Shawni Pothier over at her blog, 71 Toes. She has posted about doing Summer Goals with her kids, and I thought it was a great idea, so I copied her!

I sat down with my kids and helped them to set 4 reasonable goals for themselves in the following categories: Physical, Mental/Educational, Spiritual, and Personal. Here are my kids' goals for the summer:

Monkey's Summer Goals

1. Physical: Hit 10 balls in a row (prepping for baseball next year!)
2. Mental/Educational: Read 5 chapter books (I'm pretty sure he'll read a lot more than this, but he wasn't convinced so I let him go with 5)
3. Spiritual: Remember to say personal prayers every day.
4. Personal: Save up $20 to buy Lego set.

Starlet's Summer Goals

1. Physical: Learn to hula hoop.
2. Mental/Educational: Learn 15 1st grade sight words (she just finished kindergarten)
3. Spiritual: Memorize 6 scriptures.
4. Personal: Save up $7 to buy a stuffed kitty.

I will admit, so far I'm not doing a great job reminding and encouraging the kids with their goals- we may need to implement a chart for this. What I'd really like to do is sit down with each of them and help them to make their own charts to track their progress. Part of the point of setting these goals is teaching them how to set goals and how to make a plan to achieve them. Working on it!

As for discipline, I recently read a great book entitled, "Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire" by 5th-grade teacher Rafe Esquith. In the book, he talks about how he has helped his students understand the 6 Levels of Moral Development. Here's a short video where he explains these levels:




I really loved the concept, and I decided it was something I wanted my own kids to understand- never too early to start, right? So I sat down with them and drew a picture of a mountain. I made each level of moral development a tick mark on the mountain, starting with Level 1 at the bottom and going up to Level 6 at the top- from which point you can see the great view from atop the mountain. I had the kids watch the video and we talked about each level as I drew them on the mountain. Even at ages 8 and 6, they understood- my 8-year-old more than my 6-year-old, but it was a good start.

My ultimate goal is to do entirely away with discipline systems and rewards so we can achieve Level 6 thinking: being good because you know it's the right thing to do, but I know that will take time. For now, my son is doing well with gentle reminders and we still have to use the "color change" system (from last summer) with my daughter. We were having too many tantrum issues, and so I sat her down and explained that I could see that she still needed a system to help her remember how to behave.  It's a good thing because not only does it help nip the bad behavior in the bud, but when she gets a color change it also reminds her that she's aiming for a higher level, and she doesn't want to be using the color change system.

Little Boo is still on basic 1-2-3 time outs. She's only 2 and it works. Someday she'll get the levels. :-)

image from www.brandmill.com

As for allowances, it's very simple: the kids earn $0.25/day for completing all their chores. We don't use a chart, I just make sure they get everything done every day. They can earn an additional $0.25 for extra chores, with a limit of 1 extra chore per day using the chore sticks (otherwise I'd go broke and run out of things for them to do). We do chores Monday through Saturday, so that's a "base pay" of $1.50/week, and up to $3 a week. Little Boo earns $1 a week for helping her brother and sister (she alternates being their helper and mine throughout the week) and doing the things I ask.

I've heard that kids should get $1/week per year of age, but I'm sorry- what is a 6-year-old going to do with 6 bucks a week? That just seems like a lot to me, especially when my kids are tickled pink when they get to buy 1 thing from the Dollar Store. I like that they have enough money to save up for the things they want and to learn budgeting, but I'm not emptying my wallet into their little hands each week.

So that's our plan for the summer! So far it's working for us. :-)


How about you? Goals? Discipline? Allowances? Thoughts?

Summer Schedule

Last summer I posted about our complex chore charts and schedules and discipline, etc. This year we're doing something similar, just simplified!

I thought I'd take a moment to share our summer schedule with you to give you an idea of how I get through the day at home with 3 little munchkins and being 8 months pregnant.

8am- I wake up and get ready, kids are usually up already and they just watch TV. I will not apologize for sleeping in. It is summer and I am about to pop. I need all the rest I can get before I'm not getting any at all!

8:30am- Breakfast for everyone

9am- TV off, time for morning "clothespin" chores plus 2 chore sticks. Our clothespin chores are on door hangers like these (see below), and are simple things like putting away breakfast dishes, getting dressed, and brushing teeth.

Image from Pinterest. Sorry, no link!

The chore sticks come from a chore sticks jar like this one:

from the Shabby Beach Nest

 (okay, so mine are craft sticks I wrote on with a black sharpie and stuck into an old sippy cup- simple is the name of the game here, people!) and each one has a simple chore that I know my kids can do, like vacuuming, wiping down a bathroom counter, switching the laundry, etc. I rotate these out so some of them go back in when they're done, like sweeping the kitchen, because that's an ongoing need, and some of them might get taken out for a few days, like taking out trash. Since this is our first week of summer, I've been very involved with helping with these chores and teaching the kids to do them correctly. The goal is that after a few weeks they'll be pros and won't need my help anymore (translation: post-baby = independence!).

9:30am- Outside to water the garden, pick blackberries, and play if it's not too hot. Doing this stuff early helps me to make sure it gets done, and I like the kids to at least get a little bit of outside time, even if temps get up in the 90's later in the day.

10 or 10:30am- Outing or project. Before school ended, the kids and I spent a few minutes each day going through Pinterest and brainstorming different fun things we wanted to do this summer. We made a list of about 75 things we thought would be fun, and each week we just pick a few. Every Monday is grocery shopping day, so that's our outing for the day, then usually we hit the dollar movies at the movie theater later in the week, then we have usually one more outing- museum, library, park, etc. The other days we stay home and do craft projects or another activity, like the sprinkler, treasure hunt, etc.

12:00pm- I start getting lunch ready, kids do a quick clean-up if we've done an activity at home.

12:30pm- Lunch

12:50pm- After-lunch cleanup, 1 chore stick. 

1:00pm- Story time! Each child chooses 1 book they want me to read, and I read 1 chapter from a chapter book.

1:30 or 2pm- Quiet Time- Little Boo takes her nap, I eat my lunch and read, go online, or watch House Hunters International and fold laundry. The older two are allowed to do whatever they want, as long as it's quiet, but computer time for them is limited to 20 minutes each. I think next week I'll start incorporating some "homework assignments" into this time. Maybe have them do a worksheet or write a journal entry. I've been hearing a little too much whining during Quiet Time. :-)

3:30pm- Game Time & Snack Time- Little Boo is usually still napping, so I gather the older two and we choose a board game or card game to play until she wakes up. When she gets up (4-4:30) she comes downstairs and sits at the table with us and has her snack, and we usually find a way to include her in the game too.

5pm- Kids' TV time, I start on dinner. I'm usually pretty wiped out by this time, so I need the break and the kids stay out of my hair while I'm getting dinner put together.

6 or 6:30pm- Dinner! We never know when my husband is going to be home, so we've always had a late dinner scheduled in hopes he'll get to eat with us.

7pm- Kids get ready for bed. My husband is hopefully home by then so he takes care of the bedtime preparations while I do the dinner dishes.

8pm- Bedtime! This often gets pushed back to about 8:30, especially now that it's summer, just because we goof off and play around before bed. And Little Boo likes to play get-up-and-go-potty-20-times so she often doesn't actually get to sleep until 9:30 or so, and consequently her sister (and often her brother who likes to stay up and read) don't get to bed till later either.

And that is my 12-hour summer day. So far this schedule has been working great for us, and I like that it's not too structured, but just structured enough that everyone knows what's happening, things get done that need to get done, and I feel like I'm spending plenty of quality time with my kids, despite my lack of energy.

Check back in the next few days and I'll share about our Summer Goals, allowances, and discipline system (no charts needed)!

How are you planning your summer? Do you keep a schedule or do you just wing it? What works for you?

I'm here! Just pregnant!

Nope, haven't dropped off the face of the earth! But I am 5 weeks from delivery and recovering from a nasty sinus infection so...things have been interesting. But I did want to share this little project with you!

Tomorrow is the last day of school for us here, so I was working on some end-of-year gifts for teachers.  My son's teacher has had a particularly difficult year with her class (she had 27 kids and about 9 of them were troublemakers- my son not included!) so I thought this would be an appropriate sentiment for her.

I pretty much just copied the "Keep Calm" posters I'd seen out there and found a similar font, then worked with it on my computer until I liked how it looked. I just used free clipart for the book image, and then I printed it out on plain paper to see how it looked and make sure it would fit correctly on my dictionary page.

Then I took my dictionary page- the one with the definition for "teacher" on it- from an old dictionary and I centered it over the printout on the plain sheet of paper. (I held the dictionary sheet up to the light so I could see the wording on the plain sheet behind it and get it lined up correctly.) Next, I used scotch tape to secure it- I used just a thin edge of the tape on the edge of the dictionary page, leaving most of the tape attached to the plain printer paper. That way it would feed through the printer without getting jammed and, if the tape was difficult to remove from the dictionary page I could just trim off that little edge with my paper trimmer. A word of caution: make sure you know which way text will print on your paper before feeding it into your printer- you don't want to end up wrecking your chosen dictionary page with upside-down text!! I will sometimes draw a little arrow for myself on my test sheet to remind me which way I put it in. :-)

Once my words were printed on my dictionary page, I mounted it with glue dots onto a piece of patterned scrapbook paper (like a mat) and put it into my thrift store frame. The whole project cost less than a dollar and turned out quite nicely!

Did you do any crafty/thrifty projects for your kids' teachers this year? Leave a comment and share! (I always need new ideas for next year!)

Backyard Toys and the Book Exchange

Spring has sprung and that means it's time to get outside! If your kids are at all like my kids, their outdoor toys get cracked, faded, and brittle from being out in the sun or broken from being chewed up by the lawnmower or the dog. This year was no different! In preparation for the first lawn-mowing of the year last week I went around the yard collecting the various plastic pieces of what once were toys and tossing them in the trash.

Sadly, the kids weren't left with much.

So we made our annual trip to the Goodwill Outlet for outdoor toys! My kids love this trip because they can toss all the junky toys they want into the cart and rarely hear a protest from me. I love this trip because my kids get to have fun and because all their new goodies will keep them busy outside for hours! I love using Goodwill as our source for outdoor toys because then when they get cracked, broken and eaten by the lawnmower I don't mind tossing them in the trash and no one sheds a tear.

This year we picked up a plastic baseball bat, watering can, dump truck, several small cars and various figurines (most from McDonald's at one point, I think), some baskets and cups (great for collecting flowers and having a tea party), a squirt gun and some other random odds and ends. Most of the small toys will live in the sand & water table.

As soon as we got home the kids raced outside with their loot and had a grand time!

And I got to spend some time with my loot as well:

The stack on the left are books I bought for me- 3 books by one of my favorite authors, Adriana Trigiani, plus two books I've read before but I don't own but think I should because they're just great books (The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands and All Your Worth).

The stack on the right are the books I plan to take to The Book Exchange, a used bookstore that allows trade-ins of paperbacks. They'll give you 1/4 of the cover price in store credit which you can then use to buy any of the books in the store, all listed at 1/2 their cover price. Since the Goodwill Outlet only charges $0.25 per paperback, it's always a good deal for me. That stack there should net me about $22 in store credit and I only spent $2. Even if they only accept 2 of the books (they don't accept everything) I'll still have come out on top. Sweet, right?

Total spent at the Goodwill Outlet this trip: $8.36 (about $4 for toys, $4 for books)

What's your outdoor toy situation like? Do you prefer to buy used?